The Kalstrom Family

2011-01-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year Johns parents and Uncle Mak came to visit. Not sure what Grandpa K is doing, but it looks like he is going to give Dylan a drink. Big trouble for Grandpa!

We played a fun game on Christmas Eve. You had to try and blow out a candle while being blindfolded. It was so fun! I think this will be a new tradition at our house.

Grandpa was probably the funniest. He made a complete circle in the living room.

The kids in their new jammies.

Look what santa brought!

Lexie was not so sure about the new kitty.

Dylan got a new wii game from santa.

He had a fever on Christmas and spent most of the day playing wii or sleeping.

The girls love jumping on the trampoline.

Looks like trouble for Dylan...

Now its Kaylee's turn....

We had such a great visit with all of our family over Christmas break. There truly is nothing better than family. We are so thankful for each minute we get to spend with all of them.

Where does the time go? Seriously?!

2011-01-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! I think I just won the worst blogger award! I can't believe I haven't posted anything on here in soooo long. I guess I have been having too much fun with my little family!!! In December we were so lucky to get to go on The Polar Express train ride again. This is one of our kids favorite things to do in December. They look forward to it all year.

Here are the kiddos, so anxious to get to the North Pole.

Alyssa just loved Mrs. Claus. Mrs. Claus was pretty fond of her too :)

The kids putting in their requests.

The house is the background is Santa's workshop.

I think I accidentally snapped this picture when I was putting the camera in my coat pocket. It actually turned out pretty good!

Dylan and McKaylee just had to get a picture with daddy at the Bank of the North Pole. They thought it would be a pretty good idea for him to start working there. Then we could visit Santa all year long.

This was actually taken in downtown Caldwell. John is a member of the Chamber of Commerce in Caldwell and actually put in quite a bit of time decorating the town for Christmas.

Catch Up

2010-10-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

For Halloween this year we went to Weiser to go trick-or-treating. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with family and let the kids be crazy. Candy, candy, candy!

Alyssa is 3! This is real bittersweet for me. I guess I finally have to face that she is no longer a baby and doesn't want to be called one either. She is definitely a big girl now. She is totally into princess stuff, Barbies, dolls, dresses, and shoes. Her favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz and she could seriously watch this 24/7. She is doing so well in swimming lessons. Lately she has been spending more time under water than above water, she is a real fish!

Alyssa and Lexie

Paige, Kaylee, Alyssa, Dylan, and Madalynn

She really enjoyed tearing open her presents.

She was so excited to get a chance to be Dorothy.

Kaylee and Paige

Her huge candles.

Making a wish!

I recently went to parent teacher conferences for the kids. Kaylee is doing great in kindergarten and is well above grade level. Mrs. Nowotny says she is a real sweet heart and is a great helper also. She has also gotten the best bus rider award twice already! Dylan is doing awesome too. He is second in his class for reading! GO DYLAN! He is also doing great in math. Both of their teachers said the kids are so well behaved they just love having them as part of their class.I am so proud of my little rascals!!!

DYLAN IS 7!

2010-10-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Dylan turned 7 in September. Seriously can't believe he is 7!!! He chose a day at Pojo's to celebrate. We rode the bumper cars and carousel non-stop. Then he wanted a happy meal at McDonald's for lunch. For dinner he chose pancakes (his all time favorite thing to eat).

Dylan and Daddy
He got lots of cars and trucks!

He has been wanting Super Mario Galaxy 2 for awhile now.

He isn't really all that crazy about cake. He decided he wanted brownies instead. He helped make them and then decorated them all by himself. I think he did a pretty good job!

He was really embarrassed this year when we sang Happy Birthday to him.

He blew out the "trick" candles pretty fast.

Kaylee and Paige

Alyssa

Alyssa, Grandpa, and Madalynn

To say that Dylan loved his dessert would be a total understatement...

First Day of School

2010-10-04T11:34:00.001-07:00

The kids were so excited the first day of school. We now have one in kindergarten and one in first grade!

McKaylee's Birthday

2010-10-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

Wow...this is clear back from the beginning of August. Where has the time gone?! McKaylee is now 5! She wanted to have a slumber party and invited her best friends Julia and Paige. They had tons of fun playing dress up, going to the park, jumping on the trampoline, swimming at the Y, and baking cupcakes.

Dylan and McKaylee

Dylan, McKaylee, Paige, and Julia

Blowing out the cupcake she decorated.

Opening presents...

She really wanted dress up stuff. Before I took this picture she said, "Wait, I have to pose like a real princess."

Paige, Dylan being silly, and Kaylee

Blowing out another candle when grandma and grandpa came over.

Silver City

2010-07-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

We have made it out to Silver City a couple of different times this year. There are so many different trails leading into the town so it is always an adventure! This last time we went, we had to do some serious four-wheeling to get into town, seriously! The trail was so steep and covered with so many big rocks, it was almost impassable. There were a few parts that I made John drive my four-wheeler down because I was sure I would crash! There was a guy along the trail that told dad there was no way we were going to make it to Silver City on the trail we were on, especially with his side-by-side. Amazingly we BARELY made it, and the four wheelers are still in one piece.

Here are the kids climbing really high up on the rocks...

Coming Down....

Mommy and the kiddos

Daddy and Alyssa

Here is the counts cabin. He lived all by himself on a very steep mountainside. Inside the white fence is his grave, then his outhouse, and his cabin in the back.

Standing in front of his cabin built in 1867!

Here is the entrance to one of many cemeteries around Silver City. This one is located up very high on a pretty steep mountainside.

Underneath the tree are a few graves from the late 1800s. There were only a few with names on them. One was Mary Ann who died around 1860, she was from Novascotia. There were also tons of graves marked unknown.

McKaylee and Dylan in front of what remains of the jail. The cells were really small and had to be extremely dark. It gave me an eerie feeling to be by them.

Inside the Silver City hotel. On the right is an actual Wells Fargo notice about a robbery!

Lots of four-wheelers and motorcycles around town. A lot of the buildings have some amazing woodwork.

Dylan wanted to take a picture of us.

Pictures of the cemetery in town.

The grave markers are extremely tall and quite fancy. Nothing like I thought would have been around in the early 1900s. A lot of them are a lot fancier than the ones made today.

It was pretty hot. The kids had a fun time cooling off in the creek.

The kids were so excited to have Grandpa and Grandma with us.

Dylan says he has the best grandpa in the world because he lets him drive his side-by-side. Dylan said, "I hope when grandpa gets really really old, he will give the side-by-side to me."

Alyssa enjoying an old-fashioned lollipop.

One of a few outhouses around town.

The back side of the Silver City hotel.

The church.The school.

Alyssa sure loves her grandma.

McKaylee was really interested in the cemetery. She was really impressed with the size of the headstones also.

John and Dylan

Here is one to show you how tall most of the markers are! Pretty amazing. Almost all of them are made out of marble.The girls thinking about climbing the tree.

New Toy

2010-06-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Grandpa bought a new side-by-side the other day and just had to get this for the grandkids too. Dylan is getting pretty good! I forgot my camera. Luckily John had his phone and shot this.

Dylan's Kindergarten Graduation

2010-06-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

Dylan waving at us

Mr. Bastian giving Dylan his diploma

Dylan and Mr. Bastian. Dylan has had such a good experience in school this year. He has just loved having Mr. Bastian as a teacher and says he is the best teacher ever (besides mom of course!)

Alyssa, Dylan, and McKaylee. The girls were so proud of their big brother.

Dylan and Grandma. He was so happy that she came to see him graduate.

Yay for Dylan!

I am so excited to have Dylan home everday now. I can't wait to plan a ton of fun summertime activities with the kids! Bring on the sunshine...

New Hobbies

2010-04-28T13:51:00.001-07:00

The girls love our neighbors horses, McKaylee especially! Alyssa likes to go pet them but gets bored after a litle while. McKaylee will stay with the horses FOREVER. She wanted me to write that she likes them because they are so beautiful and nice.

The horse likes her too. McKaylee says the horse is one of her best friends.

What do you think they are saying to eachother?! Funny.

Tree Climbing is Dylans new thing. He can't get enough of it. Unfortunatly for me, he is not at all afraid of heights. He keeps trying to beat his own record by going up higher each time. He likes to go much higher than this...
Please hold on Dylan!

She is such a girlie girl, look at her leg. Makes me smile!

Coming down...

Swimming Lessons

2010-04-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Dylan and McKaylee love taking swimming lessons at the Y. They have been in lessons for quite awhile and are really doing great!

Here is McKaylee doing the American Crawl

McKaylee doing the backstroke.

Dylan doing the backstroke.

Dylan finishing up a lap of American Crawl

McKaylee and her teacher

Dylan and Kaylee

Easter

2010-04-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

The kids had a lot of fun decorating Easter eggs this year. I had a lot more fun with them this year too! They were all old enough this year to decorate their own, and they were a lot less messier than I remember from last year. They also have so much fun learning about the real meaning of Easter. They decided they were decorating all of their eggs for Jesus only and kept saying sorry mom, none for you. They especially enjoyed drawing on the eggs with crayon before putting them in the dye and came out with quite a few really cool eggs!

Dylan is always wanting to take pictures and does pretty well with the camera. Out of all of the pictures he took, he really wanted me to post this one. It was taken after Alyssa devoured an entire Reese's egg. Me too, but luckily I didn't leave any evidence on my face :D

We took the kids to the town Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. It was fun but it was quite cold because of the wind.

Look at all of those people! Luckily they had tons of eggs, so each kid got quite a few.

Missing His Front Teeth...

2010-04-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

Dylan recently lost both of his front teeth. He had no problems getting the first one out, but I wasn't sure he was ever going to get his second one out. Seriously, it was loose for about a month. The more I asked him to work on it, the more nervous he got. Poor boy. Talk about sitting on the couch, not being able to sit still, he would just sit there and shake! Then he'd have to make a run for the bathroom. He actually vomited right before John pulled it out. Hopefully no more loose teeth for Dylan for quite awhile. I am really crossing my fingers on this!
McKaylee really wanted to get her picture taken with Dylan. She can't wait to get a loose tooth. Almost everyday she is asking John or I, "Can you check this tooth and see if it is loose yet?" She can't wait for the tooth fairy to come to her bedroom.

Grandma and Grandpa's House

2010-04-09T09:09:00.001-07:00

For the last month or so, we have enjoyed going to Weiser and helping my parents work on their house. The kids just love it over there and never want to come home. The second an adult lays down a hammer, Dylan begins hammering nails into anything and everything. The kids fav. thing so far has been using hammers to help tear the sheetrock off of the walls. Wish I could have gotten some pictures of that! We are so excited for them to get their house finished. The kids can't wait for the upstairs.

Here are the kids with Grandpa, up high!

Very High! Kind of made me nervous, the flooring up there is only finished in the middle, so the edge of where they are is just a big drop off on each side.

Grandpa and Grandma's living room, haha.

Alyssa and McKaylee are always jumping on the trampoline.

Dylan has enjoyed watching grandpa work on the tractor. He loves to pretend he is driving.

McKaylee

Trip to the Owyhees

2010-03-19T19:27:00.000-07:00

John took today off so we could go four-wheeling. He couldn't wait any longer to ride his new toy! The kids were pretty excited too. We decided to take a trip to the Owyhees.

McKaylee, Alyssa, and Dylan

Dylan wanted to play in the snow. Thinking it might be his last chance for awhile.

We had such a beautiful view, all day!

John and Dylan just couldn't get enough. They kept going and going.....and going....

Dylan just loves four-wheeling. I think he would go everyday if we would take him.

Dylan took a picture of daddy and mommy.

We had such a great day. We wanted to take the kids all the way into Silver City but just couldn't make it. The snow was getting pretty soft but was still icy in some spots. Near the end we were riding on a snowmobile path that was pretty scary. The four-wheelers did pretty good but since I am a wimp of a driver and didn't feel like going off the side of a cliff, we turned around. I would highly recommend a trip to Silver City (when the snow is gone). We are planning on it in about a month. More pictures to come!

To John....

2010-03-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

It seems like just yesterday we were getting married and starting our life together. That day, it seemed to me that we loved each other so much, loving each other more wasn't possible. Since that day, our relationship has become so much stronger.

John---

Now your my whole life, now your my whole world

I just can't believe the way I feel about you

like a river meets the sea

stronger than its ever been

we've come so far since that day

and I thought I loved you then.----Brad Paisley

Reasons why I love you so much...

He makes me have fun every single day. Whether I am in a good mood or a bad mood. Whether I am sick or tired.

He listens to me even when he is mad, when most men would just walk away. Even when I am just jabbering away about something, he'll keep listening because he knows it makes me feel better.

He will do anything to make me happy.

He totally adores our children and loves spending time with them. He humbly denies every compliment about his parenting skills but they are awesome.

If he has a choice to make about something he needs or I need, seems like he'll always put my needs first.

He cooks! He does laundry(sometimes)! He helps clean the house!

He has been through it all with me, and still loves me just the way I am.

After the miscarriage of our third child, I was a horrible mess. He spent so much time making sure I was ok and helping me through it.

He is my best friend. Anything I do is more fun if I get to do it with him.

He tells me I am beautiful even when I have no make up on and am in my scruffy pj's.

He forgives me. For huge mistakes and stupid little ones.

He works hard at everything. He puts his heart and soul into everything he loves.

His eyes light up every time he talks about our kids.

He takes care of the kiddos just as good as I do.

His chest and shoulders make for a great pillow.

He loves my family as much as I do.

He is just the best husband/dad ever!

I asked each of the kids why they love their daddy, here is what they said:

Alyssa: because I need him.

She truly does! Sometimes she will just be wandering around the house waiting for him to get home from work (all day!). She is really daddy's little girl.

McKaylee: I like him because he takes me for walks and makes sure I am ok. He keeps me safe.

Dylan: I love daddy because he is strong and he wrestles with me. He also plays kick ball and t-ball with me. He always takes me on the four-wheeler.

We all love you so much John! We are all so blessed to have you in our lives.

Crown Jewel of Caldwell

2010-03-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

The other night we went to Pizza Hut in Caldwell. There is a lady who works there that made our kids some really cool balloons! These pictures were actually taken the next morning...that is why they are all still in their pj's!

McKaylee and her kitty

Dylan and his airplane

Alyssa and her flower, it was almost as tall as her!

I wanted to get the ladybug...

The lady actually called to let us know that McKaylee's picture was so good that she has it on display at Pizza Hut! She is now an official "Crown Jewel of Caldwell." She said her picture will be used for her ads in the newspaper and possibly even the news! Way to go cutie Kaylee :)

December

2010-01-14T13:00:00.000-08:00

John and I at his Christmas party for work. It was a great time.We enjoyed lots of good food, visiting, and gambling. I am now addicted to roulette. We'll have to make a trip to Jackpot soon!

This year we went to Ekalaka for Christmas. We were so excited to see all of the Kalstrom's. It had been four years since all of us were together last.

Kaylee and Dylan wanted to take a goofy picture, so here it is.

Mixing up the cookies for santa.

They were all having so much fun.

Decorating the cookies

Summer worked very hard preparing all of the food for Christmas day. Here she is after a long day in the kitchen. She made tons of great food, yummy.

Alyssa decorating cookies.

The cookies were yummy. Kaylee looks like she is wearing lipstick but it is actually frosting.

McKaylee and Daddy relaxing

Dylan loves the slinky santa left in his stocking.

Santa came to grandma and grandpa's on Christmas morning! Dylan was super excited and rushed over to give him a hug and sit on his lap. The girls were not so excited and wanted to keep their distance.

Mommy kissing santa clause. I was trying to convince the girls that santa was nice and not scary.

Grandpa and Kaylee

Dylan couldn't wait to open all of his presents.

Nicole, MAK, and Charlotte.

Opening their new DS.

Alyssa having fun too!

All of my kids just adore Nicole. She played so many fun games with them!

Nicole and MAK. We were happy to finally get to meet Nicole. She is such a sweetheart and fits into our family perfectly. We spent the night at their house in Butte. Alyssa decided to wake up at 4 am (she doesn't sleep well unless she is in her own bed) and was screaming. It was nice to travel with these two on our way to Ekalaka.

Summer and I. I sure have missed this girl! Thanks for being such a great sister-in-law to me Summer.

Brad and Summer. We finally made it out to Spearfish to see Brad and Summers house. This is the first time we have been back to South Dakota since college. We enjoyed seeing their house and hope to make it out there again soon~ Unfortunately we ended up hitting a deer on the way back to Ekalaka. Dylan was so mad at John. He couldn't believe his dad killed Bambi.

John and MAK

All of the girls. I had so much fun visiting with all of them.

John, MAK, and Summer

McKaylee and Dad

Nicole decorating the tree.

This tree just might win the most original award! It was for sure a one of a kind tree, missing the top. John has been wanting a "real" Christmas tree for a long time (like every year since we have been married). Bill, Charlotte, Nichole, and Mak went and cut this one down the day before Christmas. The tree was huge and barely made it through the door.

Bill and Jerry. Jerry was on call over Christmas. Bill and Jerry ended up getting called out almost everyday we were there. Bill loved the opportunity to spend time with his dad. I wish we could have spent more time with these two.

There was so much snow! Uncle MAK was great and let McKaylee ride on the tractor while he plowed snow. Everyone was planning on leaving the day after Christmas but the weather had other plans for us. We actually got snowed in! We were able to spend one more day with everyone before leaving on Sunday. We ended up following a snow plow at 6 am the next morning. The drifts were so high on the highway that the plow just went right down the middle of the road. Good thing we were behind the plow, otherwise we wouldn't have made it.

Dylan and John

My baby Alyssa. She is so set in her ways. She insisted on wearing these pj's (her flowers) all of the time. When I would take them off of her to wash them, she couldn't wait to get them back on.

Playing cards.

We had so much fun visiting with all of the family! Thanks for such a good time everyone.

October

2009-11-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

The Kalstrom's have had a busy month! Mommy and Alyssa waiting for the race to start. It was pretty cold!

Dylan and McKaylee ran in the YMCA kids classic.It is a one mile run for kids. They really enjoyed the race and getting some exercise.

Yay kids! They are so proud of their medals.

Alyssa turned 2. I can't believe our baby is 2!!! Alyssa is such a bright little girl. She is now in the 3rd% for her weight (22 pounds) and 25th% for her height. Her pediatrician was so impressed with her vocabulary. She is talking really well for her age.

Getting ready to blow out her candles.

We ended up spending Alyssa's birthday in Weiser with grandma and grandpa. Dylan, John, and grandpa went for a four-wheeler ride and deer hunting for most of the day.

Dylan's Pumpkins
Instead of carving pumpkins this year, we decided to just decorate them with funny/weird faces. The kids especially proud of their pumpkins this year because they did them all by themselves!

McKaylee's Pumpkins

Alyssa and her pumpkin

HALLOWEEN!

This year for Halloween we went to the Bittencourt's. It is so much fun trick-or-treating in their neighborhood. The kids had a blast and it was an enjoyable evening for mom and dad too.

Tinkerbell and Superman

Kaylee, Julia, and Dylan

All of the kiddos ready to go!

Alyssa (butterfly) and Lillian (skunk)

Alyssa and Lillian really enjoyed trick-or-treating this year too. Alyssa would run up to the door just like the big kids. She was doing really well until she had a bad fall. She ended up with a bloody nose and a big goose egg on her forehead. She still looks pretty beat up today. Her nose is black and blue and all scratched up.

Dylan's 6th Birthday

2009-09-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Dylan had his 6th birthday on Sept. 18th. He really enjoyed his birthday this year. I took treats to his school as well as a few trains and Lexie for show and tell. His class is busy, busy! Just being there for 20 minutes reassured me that I don't ever want to teach Kindergarten :) Dylan chose for our family to go to Wahooz on Friday night. We had such a fun time there. John and I felt like young kids again. Then for his last birthday event, we had a party in Weiser at grandma and grandpa's house. We had a great time visiting family. We love you so much Dylan and are so happy to have you as our son! You teach me new things about being a parent everyday.

He has been asking for this wii game for some time now.

The kiddos

Julia, Kaylee, Kylee, and Dylan

What could it be?

Transformers, who would have guessed? :)

Alyssa loves babies!

I put trick candles on the cake :) Took him awhile to get them all out.

He still loves trains.

We also went to the Train Depot in Weiser before coming home. The kids think this is the best thing about Weiser. They ask to go there almost every time we are in Weiser.

The three kids watching a train go by.

I think they are looking more like me in this picture, sorry John!

Dylan's First Day of Kindergarten!

2009-08-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Dylan was so excited for his first day. We took him to orientation Monday night and since then he has been going crazy to get to school. He was soooo ready. He even told me he didn't mind if I just dropped him off outside! Is he embarrassed of me already??! Anyhow, I took him to his class. When we walked in there were 3 kids sobbing and hanging on to their mom's. I started to get nervous, but Dylan just hung up his backpack and was like see ya later mom! Phew! I hope everyday goes as well as today!

Dylan's Surprise!

2009-08-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

I wish I had a better picture of this. Dylan lost his first two teeth! His first one he ended up pulling himself on August 1st (Grandpa Kalstrom's birthday). His second one daddy pulled on August 2nd (McKaylee's birthday). Way to go Dylan!

McKaylee's Fourth Birthday

2009-08-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

McKaylee turned 4 on August 2nd! We celebrated her birthday in Weiser at Grandma and Grandpa's house (we are in the middle of painting and putting in new flooring at our house). We are so thankful to have McKaylee as part of our family. Her current interests are cooking, playing school, playing house, horses, cats, swimming, Barbies, Babies, and Princesses. She loves to play dress-up and simply cannot have enough clothes. She LOVES to go shopping! She had a wonderful time at her party. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

One of Alyssa's favorite songs is Happy Birthday. Here she is singing her heart out.

Yummy Cake!

Paige, McKaylee, and Kylie jumping on the trampoline.

Kylie, Chloe, Kaylee, Paige, and Dylan

Here she is Sunday morning before she opened her presents.

She has been begging for a stove for awhile now. She loves to help mommy and daddy cook.

Kaylee simply cannot have enough Barbies.

Randomness

2009-08-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few random pictures of the kids this summer.

I walked into the kitchen and found Alyssa like this! She had pushed a chair over to the stove to climb up. Scary. But luckily I found her before she fell.

The kids love riding bikes. Dylan prefers to ride McKaylee's because her bike has training wheels and he can ride it a lot crazier than his own that doesn't have training wheels.

McKaylee loves to dance! She wants to be a dancer someday as well as a singer, doctor, mommy, teacher, cook, her career of choice changes everyday!

Lately Alyssa has been changing clothes like crazy. She prefers to wear dresses everyday and mostly likes the ones with princesses on them (which she brings to me while she chants baby baby baby over and over again). McKaylee's closet gets raided by her also. Thank goodness McKaylee doesn't mind sharing.

We have been playing quite a bit of T-ball with the kids lately. The kids got a T-ball Tee for Easter this year.

Alyssa thinks she is just as big as the other kids.

McKaylee hitting!

Dylan loves T-Ball! He understands how to play and prefers to have Daddy as a teammate.

Camping

2009-08-05T12:43:00.003-07:00

WooHoo! I am finally updating our blog. Gosh..where does the time go?!

We have had such a great time camping this year!!! Everytime we go, the kids never want to come home. After our last trip Dylan gave me a hug and said, "Mom this camping trip is something I'll never forget." McKaylee always asks John, "Can't you find a job in the mountains?" I don't blaim McKaylee, I would love to live in the mountains! Camping is one of our favorite activities because we get such good quality time together. We enjoy riding four-wheelers, going for walks, fishing, picking huckleberries, and eating great food! The kids especially enjoy playing in the water as well as the dirt.

This year we have gone camping near Anderson Ranch and also Lost Lake. We have enjoyed our camping trips with Grandpa and Grandma Johnson as well as Troy, Erica, Paige, and Madalynn.

Dylan, Mom, and McKaylee

Alyssa must have been impressed by something.

All of the Kalstrom Kids

Dylan and McKaylee

Taking a Walk

Dylan recently learned to drive the four-wheeler all by himself. This makes me very nervous since he seems so young. Although I was probably doing the same thing at his age, just without the helmets!

Dylan and McKaylee love riding the four-wheeler together.

This also makes me very nervous! John reassured me it was very safe, but geeze!

The kids loved shooting!

Alyssa had her first corn on the cobb and she couldn't get enough of it!

Our Family

Dylan jumped off of here a million times. He had so much fun trying to get the "perfect" picture.

McKaylee and Dylan found grandpa's hunting gear and pretended to go hunting.

McKaylee loves to pose for the camera.

This picture makes me laugh. Dylan was so proud of his fish!

The kids played with their fish for quite awhile. Whoever thought you had to take toys camping?!

2008-12-18T14:57:00.000-08:00

Grandpa K, Grandma K, and Mak all came to visit us for Christmas this year. We were so glad we got to spend some quality time with them.

Grandpa and Dylan playing videos.

Lots of fun pictures in the snow!!!

Kaylee had fun playing with our snowman clothes.

This year we all thought it would be a great idea if Eric dressed up as Santa for the kids. Last year Troy did it, and the kids had no clue it was him. We thought they would never guess it was Uncle Eric. The first thing Dylan said as Santa came in was, "It's Eric in a Santa suit!" The kids kept calling him Santa Eric....

Dylan, Kaylee, and Paige with Santa Eric.

Uncle MAK got tons of exercise while he was here. The kids loved having him pull them around.

The Saturday before Christmas, we went on another train ride out of Horseshoe Bend. The Polar Express took us to the North Pole to see Santa. It was so much fun! We went with Troy, Erica, Paige, Madalynn, Meghan, Carlos and Julia. We all enjoyed plenty of chocolate milk and cookies!

Here is a pic. that Dylan took of Meg and me. This is a funny pic. that Dylan took.

He loves Daddy!

This year, McKaylee didn't even hesitate to sit on Santa's lap.

Dylan was wearing his fleece pj pants because him and John went snowmobiling before the train ride. They had lots of fun father-son time together that day.

Kaylee, Paige, and Julia at the North Pole.

Kaylee, Julia, & Dylan

The kids had such a good time making sugar cookies for Santa.
They were proud of their gingerbread house too.

The making of the cookies!

We were getting ready to go to the Bank of the Cascades Christmas party and Dylan and McKaylee both thought they needed to take a picture of the family. See if you can guess who took which picture...funny eh? The Christmas Party was at the Boise Center on the Grove. John and I enjoyed a night out with lots of good food and entertainment. Sadly we didn't win any of the door prizes, maybe next year!

Trying to Take Christmas Pictures...

2008-12-10T10:50:00.000-08:00

This year, the kids were super excited about decorating for Christmas. It is a tradition at our house to set up the tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The kids decorated about 80% of our tree this year. I did the lights and hung our breakable ornaments near the top of the tree. I have to admit, it is kind of hard for me to let the kids hang the ornaments. In my mind, I picture a tree with ornaments all around it and evenly spaced out. However, I have to say our tree is beautiful! Most of our ornaments are hung on the bottom and in groups. The kids are so proud of it too!

A bit scary! He enjoys taking crazy pictures.

I will post some new family photos soon!

FUN AT RAFIKI

2008-12-10T09:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I took the kids to Rafiki in Boise. We met Meghan and her kids there. It was our first time and the kids had a blast! There is so much for the kids to do. They have a giant play structure with obstacle courses and slides, a climbing wall, arts and crafts area, toddler area, dress up area, and all of the toys you can imagine. A huge bonus is that it is really, really clean. I highly recommend it for winter time play! The rock wall

She was a bit afraid! Notice how far she is off the ground.

My fearless child!

As you can tell from her expression, she loves the blocks!

Julia looking after Alyssa

Best Friends--Kaylee and Julia

Racing to the bottom

Kaylee and Dylan ready to race to the top.

Dylan had sooo much fun!

Alyssa going up!

Alyssa trying to keep up with the big kids

We ended up staying there all day! The kids were so entertained and Meghan and I were actually able to visit. We didn't leave until around 5:30. Dylan and McKaylee were exhausted. We ran through McDonalds drive-thru and got Happy Meals for the way home (it was the only thing I could think of to keep them awake!). John flew to Bend, OR for work yesterday. The kids kept looking at every blinking light in the sky and waved at Daddy most of the way home. Pretty cute!

Please Pray for Shannon

2008-11-25T07:49:00.000-08:00

I met Shannon at Huron University in Huron, South Dakota. Shannon was my soccer teammate as well was my RA and friend. Shannon was recently diagnosed with a rare kind of cancer. Please pray for her and her family. Shannon is a very positive person, and I know she can beat this! Shannon has a website if you would like to write to her, go to : http://caringbridge.org/visit/shannonmadsen . I am sure she would love to hear from you! Love you Shannon!

Fingerpainting and The Pumpkin Liner

2008-11-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Our kids love playing with their friend Julia. The kids are all close in age and seem to always have a good time together. So much for using the paintbrushes!

They enjoyed painting our sidewalk with their hands and feet.

In October, we went on The Pumpkin Liner. It is a train ride to a pumkin patch. The Bittencourts went with us. It was so much fun! Dylan is obsessed with trains so he absolutely loved it. Carlos and John thought they had to have the biggest pumpkins, we had a bit of a difficult time getting all of the kids and the pumkins off the train and to our cars :) The train we rode on.

Dylan and Julia picking out their pumpkins

John, Julia, Kaylee, Dylan, Carlos, Meghan, and Lillian riding the train

Sizing up the pumpkins.

Picking out pumpkins

Bear World

2008-11-24T11:25:00.001-08:00

The day after Eric and Kortnee's wedding, we took the kids to Bear World. They had so much fun! They went crazy as we drove through all of the bears. We also saw a white elk, deer, wolves, a moose, and some grizzlies. It was a beautiful day. We were happy that Great Grandma and Grandpa Montague and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson got to share it with us.

Riding on the ride with Grandpa J

The bears are so used to people, they actually get really close to your car.

Dylan loved the animals in the petting zoo.

He ran around touching all of them.

Kaylee was a bit more cautious and would rather look at the animals then touch them.

Dylan's favorite ride was the train of course.

Kids & Pets

2008-11-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

Alyssa and Kaylee

McKaylee loves her kitty Ellie.

Dylan and Lexie

Alyssa's First Birthday!

2008-11-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

On October 18th, Alyssa turned one! She had a great birthday. She really wasn't into opening her presents and the other kids had no problem helping her. Her pediatrician referred her to a dietician about a month ago. Now she is up to 17 pounds. She is still below the 3rd percentile for her weight though. We love you baby girl! Singing Happy Birthday

Diggin in!

She had fun!

Her own little cake.

Eric and Kortnee's Wedding

2008-11-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

Alyssa

All of the Johnsons (and Kalstroms)

Eric and Kort

My New Sister Kortnee, YAY!

Dylan Loves Uncle Eric!

The Wedding Party

I love these guys!

Ok, please bear with me...I am def. a beginner at this. Sorry if it is just a big jumbeled up mess. Since this is the first post, I thought I would post some pictures from Eric and Kortnee's wedding. I know it was clear back in September, but we all are so happy to have Kortnee join our family. I just had to post it :0) We all traveled to Idaho Falls for their wedding and had a wonderful time!